Indian politics irrespective of a particular Party, has during the History of India taken a stand on more than one occasion which has adversely affected the very Integrity of the Country and cost hundreds or even thousands of Lives. In almost all cases that I can recall, the root cause of such large scale violence has been sectarian or religiously biased movements. Ironically, the ruling Government on all those occasions have not directly supported the cause of the unruly party, however their lack of vision to foresee danger, their silence, their inaction to curb the menace during the early days of its growth have at a later stage contributed to the instability of the Nation and resulted in large scale massacre of innocent citizens.

Even today, we have several sects of Political and Non-Political parties the likes of Bajrang Dal, RSS and much lately Sri Rama Sena and MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) who if given a chance have the power in them to divide India on sectarian or religious ideologies. All of the above mentioned parties work towards the betterment of a section of the Population which is fine, however the common problem with all of them is that they cannot envision coexisting with the rest of the Population in harmony. That puts an insecurity into the Hearts of millions of People who do not belong or share ideologies of the above said parties.

If you ask, are such Parties really important to the development of the Nation, unfortunately the answer is Yes! Why? Because one National Party may not be able to represent the will of the entire Population of such a diverse Nation. Perhaps there’s no other Country in the World which is as multiethnic and multilingual, yet integrated as a common democratic republic as India. Therefore the more such representation, the better it is for that community. The love of a particular Culture or sect by the party is well appreciated, however when that turns into dislike of another’s Culture or sect is when it needs to be curbed.

Unfortunately in our Country such small uprisings are not taken seriously, all this in spite of similar such incidents which have claimed lives of Hundreds and thousands of innocent Men, Women and Children alike. The 1984 siege of the Golden Temple, the religious seat of Sikhs was one such incident. The then Congress Government headed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi choose to ignore an uprising by Bhindrenwale for many reasons of their own, one of which was believed to counterweight their Political rival Akali Dal.

The Government’s inaction resulted in Khalistan movement which almost declared a separate Sikh state called the “Republic of Khalistan” and even issued stamps and their very own Currency, all this right under the nose of the Government. Finally the Opposition mounted pressure on the Government and when Mrs. Gandhi felt she was about to be toppled, it was too late. Khalistan was almost about to be formed, Bhindrenwale was a Sikh Hero and there was total chaos, Punjab was almost on the verge of a break up. She ordered the Indian Army to storm the Golden Temple where Bhindrenwale and his supporters were hiding with Arms and Ammunitions believed to have been supplied by the then Pakistan Government led by Zia-Ul-Haq. The Government’s late action proved too costly, the Indian Army’s Operation named Blue Star coincided with the Sikh festival and the Civilian causality was extremely high, some put the rough figure at around 500, however there were no such official figures because the entire operation was hidden from the outside world and no Journalist or Press were allowed to cover the incident.

Eventually Mrs. Gandhi too was assassinated four months later by two of her Sikh Guards the aftermath of which led to a riot against the Sikhs in North India which saw thousands of Sikh families butchered, looted and raped. One Government’s inaction to act at the right moment due to selfish Political gain resulted in thousands of Sikh Families loosing their near and dear ones and the head of the Country being assassinated.

What the Congress led Government is doing in Maharashtra today is so much similar to what happened in 1984. Although the Congress are not directly supporting any of the sectarian ideologies of MNS(Maharashtra Navnirman Sena), the recently elected Cong-NCP alliance which has come to Power in Maharashtra have benefited to a large extent due to the presence of MNS because they have proved to be a good counterweight against their old Political rival the Shiv Sena. The silence and inaction by the Government and the once unsuccessful attempt by the Government to arrest the MNS Chief “Raj Thackeray” have boosted their strength. In the year 2008, they unleashed a wave of attacks on North Indians staying in Bombay especially from Bihar and UP which resulted in a large scale return of small time vendors from these states back to their homeland. Today they have started dictating who should be recruited into the Railways and Nationalized Banks from Maharashtra.

These are not isolated incidents, neighboring Karnataka has seen similar such small and large Parties crop up in the recent times. One such severely criticized Party called the Sri Rama Sena, a pro Hindutva organization which came into limelight in Mangalore due to their attacks on College Girls in pubs and couples if found to be from a different community only goes on to show their narrow minded approach and the shame they are intentionally or unintentionally bringing upon a particular Religion or sect.

India cannot be dictated by a bunch of Thugs or Goons who seem to have a sizable number of supporters, they can be accepted when their ideologies in addition to being Pro whatever they represent also envisions unity, harmony and Peace among all Citizens of this Country. There once lived a thin, fragile Man who had a vision and an ideology which gathered the support of an entire Nation which eventually let to our Independence from our colonial superpowers, all this through Non-Violence. Most of us including our Political heads remember that Great Man only once a year on the 2^nd October. Can any of these so called Pro Organizations, project an ideology that can drive this Nation today? Do they have one single cause / Manifesto that can make the entire Country unite and accept in unison? The Mahatma could do all that with Non-Violence, a fraction of which our Parties of today cannot achieve even with all the Violence they manage to create.

This growing trend of Violence and sectarianism will only divide India on these lines which eventually can destabilize the very Integrity of this Nation, not to mention the loss of innocent Lives. I still see nothing wrong in one organization or Party claiming to be Pro Hindutva, or Pro Marathi or Pro Karnataka or Pro Islamic, but that shouldn’t create an intolerance among them for the rest of the Community that do not belong to them.

It is the responsibility of the State and Union Government to ensure the development of all communities happens peacefully, without hurting the sentiments of the rest of the Population and without deviating from the common vision of the Country on the whole.

There’s a good old Zen story for such Men and the reader to ponder on. A Zen Master once drew two parallel lines on the floor, one shorter than the other. He then called his little students and asked them a puzzle, “how do I make the taller line shorter without touching it?”. The answer turned out to be much simpler than the Students proposed, he simply extended the length of the shorter line.


UD

The political arena is hot these days with our Babus trying all they can possibly do to woo voters. If one has an eye for it, one also get to see comic images reminding us of the “see and smile” cartoons. These are the flip side of a disaster, our Country is going to see yet another season. I am glad the awareness and transparency among common public is significantly high in comparison to the scene we had a couple of years ago. Our youths are voting, there are good number of capable independent candidates…Unfortunately, the awareness and transparency is only among the Urban dwellers who are nothing more than a tiny fraction of the vast population of our Country. The majority of them still live in Villages, and for the same reason, in spite of all the awareness, the Babus spring back to Power because they have just the thing to work wonders with the Rural population.

Almost during all Election process, one can find Photographs of our Babus with garlands much larger than themselves hugging each other, the very two may have been throwing dung at each other the rest of the year, but when its election time, the lure of the power makes a friend off a foe. The lack of ethics is clear even in this simple act, if there’s anything that is of concern to them, it is Power and Money. During these times, one can even find a Christian Politician in a Temple, a Hindu in a Mosque and a Muslim Politician in a Church; what are they trying to prove…? Secularism! The true meaning of Secularism is far beyond the comprehension of most Politicians and Babus, however the message they communicate to the mass by these gimmicks is indeed powerful. People are misled into thinking they are one among us, we in India have always been divided and ruled over these lines and we will continue to be divided and ruled unless we ask ourselves the worth of the Candidates we are putting into Power.

Parties are insignificant here, it’s the person that matters, we should be asking ourselves these questions

1: Is the Candidate aptly qualified…?

2: Does he have any criminal records…?
3: Why should I put him into Power…? Has he done anything in his past to the County/ State / Village / Panchayat…?

4: What are his proposed deliverables…? Are there any time frames to those deliverables…?

5: Is he a Visionary? Does he have a Vision for our Country?

How many of us are doing this…? When the entire Country starts asking these questions is when the Country really starts to wake up and grow. Instead we have Manifestoes from some Parties stating, Rice will be delivered at RS3 and Kerosene at RS4, in another part of the County a Political party delivered free Television sets. While in a different part of the Country, a young Politician was seen working with Labourers carrying silt and dirt on his shoulders. What is the message here? That he will work with them the rest of the year too? Yet other Parties have Manifestoes stating a Temple will be built at a controversial site. To save Humanity? or to save Hinduism? Neither can be saved as a result of a Temple because, if it was for Humanity, it would not be on a controversial site in the first place. If it is for Hinduism, it does not have to be saved anymore, because the beauty of that religion is that it has never had a common leader dictating standards; and despite that fact, Hinduism has survived and prevailed through turbulent times in its History from various Invaders, Rulers and Colonisers who tried to oppress it. In this new age when the Religion has proved its test of time and has millions of followers world wide, do the people need a Political Party to save the religion by building a Temple…?

Nothing but political gain is achieved through these subjects, to develop our Country, we need Visionaries, we need people who can make statements and commit that the Country will have so many thousands of jobs in so many years, the Energy problems of the Country will be met completely by this year, the Country will be the third Economic superpower by this year, and second by this year, the Country will have the best in class Defence system by this year, the Country will have the best Technologies delivered to Agriculture and see a gain of x% in so many years, the Country will have a clean Medical system by this year, the Country will be brought to the list of least corrupt Nations from the current listing of top 5 Corrupt Nations in the World by this year.

How many Political parties can set aside their commitments to Temples, Rice, Kerosene and a whole lot of other nonsense and commit on these lines…? How many of us think our Country can be developed by building Temples and supplying Rice and Kerosene free…? There is an old proverb which goes like this “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach that man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. Our political system should enable the Poor to live comfortably by giving them opportunities to lead a better lifestyle rather than continue to keep them below poverty line and feed them with cheap provisions.

Countrymen, your thoughts please…

There are many questions that I would like to like to put forth before the peace loving Mankind, most of which is not for me to judge or form opinions. The question is all about a much sensitive subject, "Religion". Irrespective of any particular religion, I would like to set upon a forum of discussion for all to bring forth their views without meaning no harm to any other faction.

It is an irony that almost all Religions existing in the World today were put down, preached or handed over to Mankind for one single purpose.... "Peace" for oneself and the Universe. There is no Religion accepted by the Human race that preaches Violence or hatred, yet all that's said and done today is in the name of Religion unfortunately.

Most of us are mislead into thinking that the cause of all this is Religion, those of us who think so are not headed in the right direction, because no Religion preaches Violence and hatred towards Mankind and Nature, be it Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Judaism, Taoism or Shinto, but the hard fact that it creates the divide among the Human race is due to the way it is handled by us, most often misinterpreted. To begin with any Religion should be passed onto us by the right hands, most of our religion are not plain text that can be read and interpreted by anyone who can read and write. Almost all religions have illustrious past and there's far more depth and knowledge within all of them than it appears on the surface. I heard a wise Man once give an example of a Religion as a Mango. The person interpreting what a Mango is for you, should not only be able to describe the Fruit from its outward appearance, but also be able to eat and describe what lies within, its "Sweetness". If he fails to travel that far, he would only chew at the bitter skin of the Mango and throw away the sweetness within. It doesn't end with that, he also passes on that bitterness to you who is listening to him.

Today the unfortunate state of the World's major Religions are brought about by us choosing to listen to those people who know only to chew on the outer skin of a Sweet Fruit. Truly today these self appointed guardians of Religion are either people who can barely read and write their own Name or Politicians. What can bring about a change is only Education and Self Realisation. Religious intolerance is on the rise today not because a section of People misinterpret Religion, but because we choose to listen to them. Before we receive Knowledge transfer of this important Text into our Lives we ask no question from whom we are receiving it! Are we asking, is this Man worthy to interpret this Great Text to us? What is his experience? How much does he know about the Society? How much does he know about the World?

The hope is in the next Generation who I wish would ask these questions, because our World is an example today by the actions of a bunch of Brainwashed youths. Nothing so far in History has been achieved by Violence and War and that holds good even in the days to come. One can Bomb buildings, Kill innocent people, even bring down dictators, but one cannot Kill the resolve of the Men surviving to oppose the force again. For that to happen Mankind itself should be wiped off the face of Earth. Besides watching the programme on Discovery on the Universe makes me realise how very insignificant we and our Planet Earth are in comparison to the immense vastness of the Universe and it is quite unlikely there could be a different God for all those religions mentioned above, its simply too much of a Luxury for people living on a tiny Planet not measuring up even to be a speck of Dust in comparison to the Universe. If at all there is a Power as such, we all must be looking at one Great Supernatural Power as a Wise Man once said, Religion is a multi coloured lantern, which makes people in different corners to see a different Light, but the true Light is within and One.

I am cutting short this note as my earlier note put one of my Fan off to sleep reading through the length of it. Therefore please do not be surprised to see the note begin as though it was already in the middle of a conversation :)  

The question is all about Democracy and if it is the right form of Political system in India. I am not a supporter of Monarchy or Dictator rule. I am of the belief that it is not the system, but what it does to the people that really matters. Many Countries across the world are still ruled by Monarchs including Gulf states and the people of those Countries are perfectly fine. Everything from Technology to Justice to Money is found like anywhere else in the world. Until recently even India was under King's rule and I am not quite sure whether the people living during the age of the Chalukya or the Mauryans or the Pallavas or Cholas even thought of Democracy. Why did we ever think of Democracy? Well the thought of Foreigners ruling us with an Iron hand, reducing the Native citizens of this Nation to nothing by slaves drove our Leaders to think of an alternative Rule: And what better way than Democracy to have total freedom from a terrible Foreign government? The concept must have brought joy to Millions of people living in India then, no doubt because from Tyranny to freedom is a big difference and it takes time to even to realise it. We've taken our time of 60 years to realise it, but now its time to review it. We should now be asking what we choose 60 years ago holds good today? Is it doing the right thing to all the Citizens of this Country? Are we headed in the right direction? Will Democracy take us there?

Lets get to some ground realities on what Representative Democracy the kind we have in India is supposed to deliver. We should have representatives to the parliament by the people. These representatives are responsible to take forth and bring about what the people want, we should have freedom to practice our own Religion, freedom to Press, freedom to speech, a proper law, Military controlled by Civilian represented body etc... All this may sound very pleasing to one's ear, but the coming lines will tell us if Democracy is ruling us.

Let us consider how we choose our very own ward MLA. The major Political parties of that state will field a candidate each representing their Party, it is very rare to see an Independent candidate although Democracy permits such an option. Anyway, the people of that constituency does not know a word about this fielded candidate, his qualification, does he have Criminal history, his leadership ability, his people orientation, his vision, the list is endless, in short the People know nothing of him. Therefore most Educated crowd keep away from voting, in a way that is indeed the right method.

It is not enough to just go the polling booth and vote, you have to vote to the right candidate, and given an option between candidates who appear to be a choice between the Devil and Hell, no Educated Man in his right sense would vote to such a personality.

What happens if People do not give a clear consensus? Well, these MLAs who managed a minority victory join together upon their Party's bequest to form a majority and still rule over you. Ask yourself, are you ruled by your choice? Are those Ministers who step out of their Luxury cars resembling local goons your elected representatives? The harsh reality is that, it is simply a cakewalk today for any Man with a few goons on his side and throwaway money to join a Party and rule over you. What they do once they are in Power is something I do not have to dwell into, People know that better. The sincerity of the one leading the pack flows down to the operating team at ground levels. The reason we hear about Corruption, inefficiency and apathy in Government bodies is the result of elected representatives with all these qualities ruling over them.

This is what Democracy of today is delivering to you. Many Many represented bodies across India are in seat of Power today not by People's choice, but by People's inability to bring him down. We all must understand the time to reform Democracy has come, else the day is not far when all of us will be walked over by them.

If we have understood the above statements, the problem with Democracy and its cause, then finding a solution is not tough. Lets see what we need to tackle this problem at the grassroot level? Well the answer is to dawn upon the realisation that the Candiate is what matters and NOT the Party, let us stop being a Congressman or a Pro BJP  or Pro JDS whatever. Political parties have been successful all these days in diverting our attention towards the Party rather than the Candidate they have fielded.

The answer to all this is suprisingly familiar, thanks to the popular reality shows on Television. We need a forum consisting of the best of breed Judges including eminent Law makers, Professors, Social Workers, members from Judiciary, eminent Businessmen who can come together to host the largest and most important reality show, "short list an MLA". Strict criteria should be set for qualifying, post which the candidates should be made to debate on topics covering all that the country needs. People should be able to watch these shows, form opinions, make judgments and vote. Every single entry to the Parliament at the grassroot level should be made to go through this strict filtering process. Every single soul that walks into the Parliament should be the clear will of the People. Post elections, whether they decide to come together to form a Majority then is left to them, a decision which is unlikely to create any difference among the common Man unlike situations we have today. As they are the best of Men and Women in the Society, it doesn't matter which one among them forms the Government or which one decides to be the Opposition. If the correction can be made at the grassroot level, then the system takes care of itself on a larger front when all these eminent represented bodies have to make a decision on the Union cabinet.

Such referendums are not uncommon in many parts of the World today. In fact most of the well developed nations including Australia, Canada, EU, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and US works on a similar principle with partial or minor changes.

Lets bring about this change for the good of our People and Nation, we are fast losing the likes of Dr Kalam, those of who have struggled to bring an Identity to our Country. We are what by the struggle of a few good Men and not by the virtue of our Politicians.

Many a times, I’ve wondered and I am quite sure most of us must have on why there’s rampant corruption in Government Offices whereas there’s considerable check on it in Private sectors…? What is it that differentiates a Private Company from Government? Before I answer that let me put forth a case to you… For the past 3 months, We’ve not been receiving any postal mails at my residence, when it finally hit the limit, my Father decided to complain about it… My Father for a start calls up the local postmaster to say mails are not coming in… The immediate response is please draft a letter, make copies of it and mark it to these and these people. That very statement is to say, I am busy, you please go through these procedures and come back to me later! Is there a better way to discourage people from complaining…? That’s ingenious and its remained in our Government offices from the day it was formed. One may today for many reasons not want to go through all that nonsense for a small problem as this… We can all understand if one’s Passport application requires such a procedure, even that is a lot simplified these days…

I thought, anyways the higher officials must have an Email ID these days, so let me try sending an Email, which I did. Off the 4 ID that I sent, 3 came back saying such a Mailbox does not exist, the one on which delivery happened, I received no further acknowledgement whether the complaint has been taken into consideration or who’s working or when it would be resolved… Nothing!

Lets say if the same where to happen in a highly Professional company… The first thing that happens is that the complaint is logged into their system and an automatically generated number given to the Customer as an acknowledgement which also acts as a reference on all further discussions relating to that issue. In case of excellent services, one may even get the name of the Person working on their request and when one would get an update on the matter…! On this first step, I think the Telephone Department has gotten away with the prize as they have an automated complaint booking system. I am not sure whether Email complains are logged as well, although sometimes they are known to close the docket number without consulting the Customer, however the initiative is commendable.

But what’s the next step…? Merely booking the complaint is ok? In a Professional company, if a call is not closed within the stipulated amount of time, it automatically appears on the Supervisor’s list, if it doesn’t get resolved even at this level, it takes the next level and so on until it gets resolved. At times or at places where such an automated system is not in place, there is something called as an Escalation Matrix which is in place. The Escalation matrix states who to contact with all his details mentioned in it, if the complaint does not get resolved within the stipulated amount of time… The Escalation matrix also contains information of the next level Manager and his Manager, so on and so forth for the Customer to take up the issue at higher levels if it doesn’t get resolved, all the while he can mention the reference number so that they can keep track on when it was booked, who’s working on it etc...

What’s missing in the Government Departments is just that… Customers do not know who to approach after the 1^st or 2^nd level. Two major diseases of the Government takes birth here… 1: Untimely closure of all Government works and 2: Corruption. When Customers work does not happen as a process, officials are Bribed to get things done. Thereafter the officials would start withholding everything for want of Bribe, thus making it a loop. Today a Peon in the Government office has to be Bribed if he has to move a File from one Table to another. The Official who signs may have to be Bribed to get his signature on the File. It is their discretion, there’s no Tracking system and there’s no proof of when the Document was submitted to him. How very convenient! Does it surprise anyone that Corruption is rampant when such a conducive environment exists in most offices? Such a thing cannot happen if a Time based monitoring system was in place along with the Escalation Matrix. The officials would then be forced to put a solution into place or else they would be sure the Customer would take it to the next level leading the official to give an explanation to why it wasn’t resolved…

The only way to bring Corruption to check in our Government offices like City Municipal Council, BDA, KEB (BESCOM), Sub Registrar’s Office, RTO, Police Stations etc is to bring such accountability into public affairs. Escalation matrix with their official Email IDs / Telephone / Fax etc should be made publicly available along with information on how to book a complaint Online or on Phone.

Merely talking about curbing Corruption by Government and bringing in good to hear terms like Computerisation will not help, we have to Evolve to better standards, better Processes like these. I am sure implementing just these two Process can cut Corruption in Public works by a large factor. The question is will the Government which does not even want to empower the Lokayukta with Suo Moto bring a Process based system into place…?